Seal for rotary shafts



April 23, 1935. POTTER 1,998,790

SEAL FOR ROTARY SHAFTS Filed Sept. 23, 1953 IN VEN TOR.

THOMAS J. P0 775,?

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 23, 19 35 I s UNiTED STATES PATENT orrica sun. ron ao'rAnY snnr'rs Thomas I. Potter, Buffalo, N. Y. Application September 2:, 1933, Serial No. 890,667

5 Claims. (Cl. ass-11) The present invention relates to seals for rotary A further object of the invention is to maintain shafts penetrating chambers in which it is desired a drive shaft in a balanced condition so as to elimto maintain pressures diifering materially from inate any tendency for it to move axially out of surrounding pressure conditions. the crank case. To this end I provide a bearing 5 The invention is applicable in cases where parseal at each end of the shaft so that no untial vacuums are to be maintained as well as in balanced end-thrust will be exerted on the shaft cases where high pressures are to be maintained. by the fluid in the crank case.

My invention will be found partic'filarly useful Another object is to provide a structure in which in sealing. the bearings of drive shafts of com- 'the shaft will be exposed to atmospheric pressure pressors, such as employed in refrigerating maat each end of the crank case so that there can 1 chinery. It is essential in such machinery not be no pocket present at an end of the shaft to only to maintain pressure but more particularly accumulate fluid and exert an end-thrust on the to prevent leakage of refrigerant fluids. shaft.

Various forms of seals arev known to the art. It will be understood that the term crank case 18 One of the most successful of these comprises a is used in its generic sense to include the chamber 11 sealing ring or collar accurately finished to form through which the drive shaft passes, whether a gas tight fit against a shoulder on the shaft. suchshaft be a crank shaft or a shaft formed This ring is spring-pressed against its seat to with eccentrics, or a shaft on which gears or other maintain a perfect seal and a resilient support pump or compressor elements are directly- 20 is provided for the ring by an expansible metal mounted. 2i bellows which is sle'eved over the shaft and sealed With the above-named objects in view and fluid-tight to the ring and to the bearing. ,The others which may be inferred or specifically menring thus forms a floating extension of the main tioned hereinafter, I shall describe two embodibearing to which it is resiliently attached so ments of my invention and thereafter the novelty that it may adapt itself to slight variations or inand scope of the invention will be pointed out in 25 accuracies in the parts and will wear uniformly. the claims.

It has been common practice heretofore to pro- In the accompanying drawing: vide a seal of this type at only one side of the Figure 1 is a view in vertical section through compressor, the drive shaft being supported in the crank case of a compressor illustrating one a blind bearing at the other side. In other words, embodiment of my invention; and

the shaft penetrates only one side of the com- Fig. 2 is a similar view of another embodiment pressor and the bearing on the other side does of my invention. not open through to the outside atmosphere. In Figure 1, I have illustrated the lower part This confines the possibility of leakage to one of a compressor of the reciprocating piston type. 85 bearing only. A pair of cylinders iii are shown as integrally While this system has operated satisfactorily connected to a crank case II. The bottom of the for low pressures ithas given trouble when applied crank case is closed by a plate I2 bolted thereto to high pressure apparatus particularly where so that it may be removed to provide access to the the high pressure side of the compressor is in the interior of the crank case.

- crank case. Fluid entering the blind bearing pro- A drive shaft ll passes through the crank case duces an end-thrust on the shaft which must be being supported in bearings l5 and it at opposite borne by the spring-pressed sealing ring. While ends of the crank case. Formed on the shaft I this pressure varies through a wide range the are two eccentrics l8 which are engaged by straps spring backing for the sealing ring must be stiff l9 secured to connecting rods 20. The latter are enough to resist the maximum end-thrust on the connected at their ,upper ends to pistons 2| (only 45 shaft that might be developed in the crank case. one of which is shown) which operate in the cyl- As a result an excessive amount of friction exists inders iii. The bearing I6 is formed in a removbetween the sealing ring and the bearing shoulder able bearing block 24 which is bolted to the crank of the shaft which results in rapid wear and early case I I 010mg an opening in the crank case large breakdown. enough to pass the eccentrics it when assembling An object of the present invention is to provid the structure.

a novel sealing structure in which friction is The shaft II is formed with opposed outwardly reduced to a minimum, and in which, furtherfacing steps or shoulders 25. Sealing rings 2 are more, the higher the pressure in the cylinder the pressed against the shoulders 25 by means of 'lesswill the friction be. springs 21. The engaging faces of the ring II and shoulders 25 are highly finished so as to form fluid-tight flts. The rings 26 fit loosely about the drive shaft, so that they are permitted a certain amount of play to adapt themselves to the shoul- 5 ders 25 should the latter wear unevenly and be not. truly normal to the axis of the shaft.

Each ring 28 is connected by metal bellows 30 to the adjacent end wall of the crank case, the bellows being sleeved over the shaft and the spring 21 and having a fluid-tight connection at one end to the sealing ring and at the other end to the crank case. The latter connection is provided by forming the end convolution of the bellows with an annular flange 3| which is engaged by a clamping ring 32 bolted fast to the end wall of the casing. Strictly speaking the bellows at the left hand end, as viewed in Fig. 1, is clamped directly to the end wall of the crank case, while the bellows at the other end is clamped to the bearing block 24 which is in effect a continuation of the end wall of the casing.

In operation, fluid pressure in the crank case H has no avenue of escape except through the joints formed between the sealing rings 26 and the shoulders 25. This is prevented by providing a perfect flt at these joints and holding the sealing rings in engagement with the shoulders 25 by means of the springs 21. It will be clear that the shaft I4 floats axially between the sealing rings since the fluid in the crank case can exert no unbalanced end-thrust on the shaft. Consequently the springs 21 need only be strong enough to hold the sealing rings in place against any tendency of the bellows 30 to retract under the maximum pressure of the fluid in the chamber ll. Should there be, by any remote chance, a slight leakage of fluid through either of the joints 25 there would be no opportunity for this fluid to accumulate and form an end-thrust on the shaft because it would easily pass through the bearings l5 and 16 to atmosphere. As a result the springs 21 may be made comparatively light and the friction at the joint between the shoulders 25 and the sealing rings 2li will be comparatively slight, actually growing less as the fluid pressure rises and increasingly opposes the spring pressure on the sealing rings.

Suitable means (not shown) may be provided for lubricating the bearings l5 and IS,

The structure shown in Fig. 2 differs from that described above mainly in the fact that the bearings supporting the shaft are exposed to the pressure in the crank case and are lubricated by the fluid in the crank case while the sealing means are provided outside of the bearings.

In this construction, a crank case 35 is provided with bearings 36 and 31 disposed respectively in opposite end walls of the crank case. For convenience in assembly the bearing 31 is actually formed in a bearing block 38 bolted to the crank case. A drive shaft 39 passes through the crank case and is journaled in said bearings. This drive shaft is formed with a pair of eccentrics 40 which are engaged by straps 4| carried by connecting rods 42. These rods are connected in the usual manner to the pistons (not shown).

Outside the bearings 35 and 3'! the shaft 39 is reduced in diameter forming opposed outwardly facing shoulders 44. A sealing ring 45 is pressed against each shoulder by a coil spring 41 x surrounding the shaft. Each ring 45 is 'connected to the inner end of a metal bellows 48 with a fluid-tight joint. The outer end of each bellows is clamped fluid-tight between the outer face of the crank case (the bearing block 33 being considered in effect a part of the crank case) and a plate 49. A nipple 50 threaded through each plate 49 bears against the outer end of the adjacent spring 41 and provides means for adjusting the pressure of said spring on the sealing ring. A jam nut 5| on each nipple serves to hold the same at the desired adjustment.

In operation, fluid under pressure developed within the crank case 35, will flnd its way through the bearings 36 and 31, but it cannot continue along the shaft because of the fluid seal between shoulders 44 and rings 45. The fluid pressure tends to collapse the bellows and force the rings away from the shoulders, but the springs 41 are adjusted to counterbalance the maximum thrust imposed by the fluid. Since the fluid pressure is balanced there will be no end-thrust tending to produce axial displacement of the shaft 39. The higher the pressure in the' crank case the more nearly will it counterbalance the spring pressure and the less friction will be developed between the sealing disks and the shoulders 44. The shaft is virtually floated endwise between the springpressed sealing rings, and the bearings 36 and 31 are kept lubricated by the fluid in the crank case.

While I have described two embodiments of my invention it will be understood that these are to be taken as illustrative and not limitative, and that I reserve the right to make various changes in form, construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims."

I claim:

1. In combination, a casing, a shaft rotatable therein and exposed at opposite ends of the casing to a pressure different from that within the casing, a pair of end-thrust bearings for the shaft resiliently mounted on the casing at opposite ends thereof, each bearing forming a fluid tight seal with the shaft and being hermetically sealed to the adjacent wall of the casing, said bearings being so constructed and arranged that they maintain a substantially uniform sealing pressure irrespective of relative pressure conditions within and without the casing and act to balance the end thrust of the shaft,

2. In combination, a casing forming a compression' chamber and having a pair of opposed openings, a rotatable shaft passing through said openings and exposed at opposite ends of the casing to the outside atmosphere, a pair of opposed end-thrust bearings disposed adjacent said openings respectively, each bearing forming a fluid tight seal with the shaft, a resilient backing for each bearing, and flexible means hermetically sealing each bearing to the casing about the adjacent opening, said bearings being so constructed and arranged that they maintain a substantially uniform sealing pressure irrespective of pressure conditions in the chamber and act to balance the end thrust of the shaft.

3. In combination, acasing forming a compression chamber, a pair of journals disposed respectively in opposite walls of the casing, a shaft rotatable in said journals and exposed to atmospheric pressure at opposite ends of the casing, a pair of opposed end-thrust bearings for the shaft located adjacent said Journals respectively, each thrust bearing forming a fluid-tight seal with the shaft, and-a resilient support for each thrust bearing hermetically sealing the same to the casing, said bearings being so constructed and arranged that they maintain a substantially uniform sealing pressure irrespective of pressure conditions in the chamber and act to balance the end thrust of the shaftp i p 4. In combination: a casing forming a compression chamber, apair of journals disposed respectively in opposite walls of thecasing; a shaft rotatable in said journals and exposed to atmospheric pressure at oppositeends oi the casing, said shaft being formed with a pair of annular shoulders facing outwardly toward the journals respectively, sealing means comprising bearing rings freely slidable on the shaft and bearing against said shoulders respectively, and a resilient support for each ring providing a hermetic seal between the ring and the casing, said sealing means being so constructed and arranged that they maintain a substantially uniform sealing pressure irrespective of pressure conditions in the chamber and act to balance the end thrust of the shaft.

g 5. In combination, a casing forming a compression chamber, a pair of Journals disposed respectively in opposite walls of the casing, a shaft, rotatable in said journals and exposed to atmospheric pressure at oppositeends of the 08.8- ing, 7 said shaft being formed with a pair oi. annular shoulders facing outwardly away from the. journals respectively; sealing means comprising bearings ring freely slidable on the shaft and bearing against said shoulders respectively, and a resilient support for each ring providing a hermetic seal between the ring and the casing, said sealing means being so constructed and arranged that they maintain a substantially uniform sealing pressure irrespective of pressure conditions in the chamber and act to balance the end thrust of the shaft.

THOMAS 1. PM 

